Phoebe found herself in what she assumed was an infirmary based on the equipment. An elderly man came into view.
"Lord Invictus," he greeted.
"Dr. Jurgen. I want to perform a regular check on her. I'll wait outside," he motioned towards her.
"Yes, my lord."
"So, how did you end up working for Invictus?" asked Phoebe trying to get some information.
"I was handpicked for my skills. I patch up captured people."
"Do you know where they are being held?"
"No. It's best not to ask questions, trust me. Now I have to take some blood for testing then you're free to go."
Once the doctor was done, Phoebe exited the room and found Invictus outside leaning against the wall.
"Follow me," he ordered
As they walked through the base, she noted how everyone saluted Invictus, but he ignored them. They approached an elevator where Dr. Colosso was waiting.
"Invictus. Long time no see, Phoebe," he greeted with a friendly smile.
"Colosso," she seethed. Besides herself, she also blamed Colosso for Max's downfall. After all, the doctor guided Max towards villainy.
He chuckled. "Always nice to see you," he said and turned towards Invictus. "When you're done I want to talk to you."
Invictus nodded and let Phoebe inside the elevator. As it rode towards the penthouse, she got a birds view of her location. She was in Washington DC, more specifically in the place where the White House used to be. Once they exited the elevator they took a few turns and found themselves in front of a room guarded by two of Invictus's elite guards.
"This is your room. If you need anything ask them," he said and nodded towards the guards. "They'll escort you to dinner, which is mandatory."
"Are they supposed to keep me from escaping?"
"No. You can leave if you want. Note that if you leave I'll hunt down Cherry and her friends and kill them and I'll make you watch," he said and Phoebe bleached.
Without saying a word, Invictus turned and left, leaving Phoebe alone. She looked around the room. A king size bed, a desk, a drawer, a dresser and a bathroom with a beautiful view of the city. She sat down on the bed and let out a tired sigh. She was trapped in the enemy's base with no idea why she was here. For now, all she had to do is to stay alive for now.
Colosso and Invictus stood in the throne room.
"So now that she's here what will you do?" the doctor asked.
"I was hoping that with time she would join me. We share a bond after all."
"She shares that bond with Max, not Invictus," Colosso pointed out.
Invictus said nothing.
"Relax buddy. All you have to do is just be yourself again. Now, here's the report on the insurgency in Central Asia for tomorrow's meeting. See you at dinner."
Dinner was tense. Phoebe glared daggers at Colosso, while the doctor pretended not to notice and Invictus stood there eating his food in silence. When they sat down, the former hero thought that Invictus would remove his helm, but the helm stayed on with only his mouth visible.
"So, Phoebe what have you been up to these last few years?" asked Colosso.
"Hiding," came the clipped answer.
"Yeah, that's never fun."
Phoebe just glared at the doctor through dinner. When she was done she left without a word.
"Good luck buddy," Colosso said with a laugh before leaving.
"You," growled Max. His eyes turned from their chocolate brown to blood red. Pure anger rolled off of him. "You brought him here to kill me,"
Phoebe never got a chance to answer as an invisible hand grabbed her throat. She tried to speak, but she couldn't. All she could do was claw uselessly at her throat.
"You betrayed me!"
The next morning Phoebe woke up gasping for breath. She took a few calming breaths before starting her morning routine. Somebody knocked on the door, Phoebe opened and saw a guard holding a tray of food.
"Lord Invictus would not be having breakfast and he will be a little late for lunch," he said handing her the tray.
"Oh, ok. Why?"
"I do not know why he skips breakfast. What I do know is that he has a meeting around noon."
"I see. Can you get me to the meeting?" she asked trying to test her freedom in this gilded cage.
The guard exchanged a look with his partner before nodding. When the time came the guard guided her to the meeting room on the ground level. She didn't recognize anyone except Colosso and Invictus.
When Phoebe entered that door Invictus was speechless. He never thought she would ever attend these meeting. He would discover the reason for her presence here later, for now, he would focus on the meeting.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Invictus began. "The reason for this meeting is to deal with the insurgency in Central Asia. General Koruko I understand that you've been dealing with them for the past year?"
"Yes, lord Invictus," responded a middle-aged man. "They are lead by the former Chinese Military Minister, Xiang Li. They use guerilla tactics to ambush patrols and raid weapon depots. We do not know their end goal yet. What we do know is that they based on the following locations," he said and turned on the projection showing a map of Central Asia with several circled locations. "What I suggest we do is airstrike those locations."
"What?! You can do that!" Phoebe exclaimed. "There are civs there."
Everyone stared at her for a moment before the General continued. "We can cover up the bombings or blame them on the insurgents."
"You can do this!" Phoebe pleaded with Invictus who kept quiet.
"I don't agree with the tactic, General. These Insurgents are like rats, they make hiding places that are hard to reach. While using poison can kill there is also a risk that they'll escape. However, the best way to catch rats is to lay a trap. A good trap for rats is food. The fact that you didn't think of this is quite disappointing, General."
"I-I didn't want to place you into unnecessary danger, my lord," stuttered the General.
"Me? I was talking about yourself. You're a General in my army. You hold a lot of weight. Or held."
"W-What do you mean?"
"You're relieved of your rank," he said and prepared to kill the now former General when he saw Colosso come into his peripheral view, shaking his head. Invictus then looked at Phoebe, who looked at him apprehensively.
"My lord, please-"
"This is your first mistake, isn't it General Koruko?"
"Y-yes, my lord," said the middle-aged man as he tried to stop himself from shaking. He had heard what happened to people who got fired by Invictus.
"Everyone is entitled to one mistake, but just one is that clear?"
"Y-yes. Thank you, my lord," the man said, close to tears. Invictus looked at back to Phoebe who calmed down visibly. Perhaps Colosso had a point
"Regarding our current problem, I will handle it personally," he said, ignoring their shocked faces. "Meeting adjourned."
Invictus got up, grabbed Phoebe and left the room with Colosso in tow.
Thank you for reading. If you have any feedback leave a review or PM me.